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Ecology and Evolution of Swimming Performance
Relevant Publications:
Langerhans et al. 2003 Biological J. of the Linnean Society , Langerhans et al. 2004 Evolution
Langerhans and DeWitt 2004 American Naturalist, Langerhans et al. 2005 PNAS
Langerhans et al. 2007 J. of Evolutionary Biology, Langerhans et al. 2007 Evolution
Langerhans 2008 Integrative & Comparative Biology, Langerhans 2009 J. of Evolutionary Biology
Langerhans 2009 Biology Letters, Langerhans and Reznick in press (Chapter in Fish Locomotion)
Locomotor performance is important for a diverse array of ecological activities in aquatic organisms. A great deal of research has examined the links between fish design and swimming performance, and thus today we have a decent understanding of how fish swim under various scenarios. Building on this foundation, we are interested in combining biomechanical and ecological work to predict the course of evolution in morphology and swimming performance.
Primarily, we are using a hypothesized tradeoff between steady (constant-speed cruising) and unsteady (rapid bursts and turns) swimming to formulate specific evolutionary predictions. We then test these predictions with comparative data.
The figure below illustrates the hypothesized divergent natural selection between environments favoring either steady or unsteady swimming abilities. Figure from Langerhans and Reznick in press.
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Predicted tradeoff between steady and unsteady swimming performance.
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